I recently visited Colin Gie, a renowned football scout who unearthed a 14-year-old Quinton Fortune in the drug infested fields of Athlone, sent him to Tottenham Hotspurs reserves before making his professional debut in Spain with Atletico Madrid before joining a star-studded Manchester United in an eight-year spell which was largely characterised by injury and cameo appearances.  Gie’s relationship with Fortune ended after an acrimonious court battle in which the former Bafana Bafana midfield strongman contended that Gie had acted inappropriately in making him sign a contract that entitled him (Gie) to 10 percent of Fortune’s earnings until he died! After this protracted legal battle, Gie decided to open an academy which would produce players in the same or better mould than Fortune .Together with former Arsenal marksman Ian Wright, Gie now owns a professional football academy in Cape Town with Mining giants De Beers as a stakeholder, this is where a certain Danish coach resurfaced after a stint at Engen Santos. Gie introduced me to the man Cape Town media likes to shower with praise and respect, Roald Poulsen the academy’s technical director. I first met Poulsen at Santos training ground in Cape Town in 2004, when he was hurriedly asked to take over from Bobie Solomon who had moved to Limpopo; Poulsen was then working for FC Copenhagen Sports College in Port Elizabeth where he unearthed and nurtured the now famous and complete footballer Elrio Van Heerden of Carlos Alberto Parreira fame. Poulsen speaks good English and  his appointment would be a welcome development for he would not be too expesive.I would be happy if Poulsen got the Zebras’ job, I do not think a local coach would be a good choice at this stage unless it is Major David Bright. I have interacted with Zebras players in camp and there is a serious need for a foreign mentor who like Poulsen is a no-nonsense coach, someone who would pick the team based on what he sees week in week out, without any influence from any club chairman or dictation by club affiliation. The Zebras players today know that it is cool to play without hurry because they play for a country where results are not a priority, where the BFA sings an annual song “we are still building” even with Modiri Marumo in the goal while young Noah Maposa is on the bench. The new coach must ask the BFA that why we are the only national team in the world that pays players before the game and that anomaly must stop forthwith. There is no doubt that Poulsen is a very good coach, he took Zambia to unprecedented 15th   FIFA world ranking despite taking over a depleted squad after the Zambian national team perished in a mysterious plane crash in Gabon. He rebuilt the team and brought back confidence to ‘Chipolopolo’ and Zambia. We need a coach who would exude professionalism and sense of urgency, a coach who would inspire the players, motivate and rejuvenate players such as Tshepo Motlhabankwe to regain the confidence and class they need to compete and work for Botswana. Botswana needs a coach who is not afraid to resign if the BFA fails him and his players, a coach who believes in principle and is results-driven. Poulsen would be good as he brings massive experience from Scandinavian countries, his spell in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the PSL experience. Since Poulsen would not cost more than $30 000, we should then have a shrewd local assistant who should be able to smoothly replace the Danish mentor after three or five years. This assistant should not be borrowed from BMC or Notwane; he should be a full-time assistant drawing a monthly salary from Lekidi, I reiterate there are no short cuts in football as we see in South Africa and France, both countries never planned for the future for when the class of 96 (AFCON champions) and 98 (World Cup winners) bowed out, today France struggle to qualify for 2010 World Cup while Bafana can go up to nine matches without a win! It would be preposterous of the BFA to cut costs and reappoint Stanley Tshosane while they know very well that the man has not got any international experience. We need a new system in which a coach travels to the PSL and Egypt to monitor our players’ progress and not depend on the media, Poulsen, if appointed, would want mechanisms in place for that otherwise he would quit within six weeks of his contract. There are other issues such as new team manager, the technical support and the feeder system at youth teams must be ready to meet his requirements. David Fani your own friend ‘King’ Kalusha Bwalya of Zambia was once mentored by Poulsen, please dial him for his view now.

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